Support of American Jewry for Florida Relief is Offered

September 22, 1926

The support of American Jewry in the efforts of the American Red Cross to alleviate the suffering of the victims of the Florida disaster was offered by the United Jewish Campaign.

The offer was made in a telegram addressed to John Barton Payne, chairman of the American Red Cross at Washington, D. C., by David A. Brown, national chairman of the United Jewish Campaign. The telegram read:

“As national chairman of the United Jewish Campaign, I desire to place at your disposal, for whatever service you may wish it, to render toward the alleviation of the suffering and distress due to the disaster in Florida, the entire national, state and local organization of the United Jewish Campaign, which was built up for the purpose of raising $25,000,000 for the reconstructive relief of European Jewry and which is at the present time not only completely intact but also functioning with remarkable success.

“Many of the fifteen hundred local organizations of the United Jewish Campaign, having completed the task for which they were created, have established themselves as social service groups for just such work as is required to bring prompt and maximum relief to the thousands of sufferers of the Florida disaster. They, the hundreds of other groups that are still functioning as campaign organizations and, in fact, the entire Jewish population of America stand ready to do your bidding in the name of humanity.

“I offer you not only the services of the entire organization of the United Jewish Campaign, numbering into ### thousands, but also, for what use you care to make of it, my own personal services, whatever they may be worth to you and, on behalf of this organization and on my own behalf, await your orders.”

A representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency left for Florida to report conditions there.

The afflicted region has a considerable Jewish population. Since the recent real estate boom, the Jewish population along with the general population has increased greatly.